Scripture:
After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road. When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you. Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house. When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet be sure of this: the kingdom of God has come near.’ I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.
The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
Luke 10:1–12; 17–20
Devotional Thought:
Jesus sends seventy-two people — not the twelve, not the inner circle, but a much wider group. Ordinary followers. And he sends them into towns where he himself is about to go, which tells us something: our witness prepares the way for Jesus’s presence. We are not the point. We are the advance team.
The instructions are striking in their simplicity: go, bring peace, eat what’s offered, heal the sick, announce the kingdom. No elaborate strategies, no special resources. Just presence, peace, and proclamation. The kingdom of God has come near to you. That’s the message. Whether people receive it or not, the message is the same.
When the seventy-two return, they are electrified — even the demons submitted! And Jesus gently redirects their excitement. Yes, you have authority. Yes, the enemy’s power is broken. But don’t make that the source of your joy. Rejoice instead that your names are written in heaven.
This is the right order of things. Our identity is not in our ministry effectiveness. It is not in what we accomplish for the kingdom. It is in the fact that we are known, loved, and named by the King. From that security, we can go — without needing the results to validate us.
Reflection Questions:
1. How does the instruction to rejoice in your identity rather than your effectiveness change the way you think about mission and ministry?
2. What would it look like to bring “peace to this house” in the literal spaces you inhabit — your home, your workplace, your neighborhood?
Application:
Pray specifically today for the harvest. Ask God to send workers — and to make you one of them. Then ask him to show you one specific place in your week where you can bring peace, heal what is broken, and announce that the kingdom has come near.